The horror it had been. The blood. The fear. The rabbit.
The rabbit.
When he went back inside, there was no blood, anywhere!
He was afraid, expecting the fearsome form of his uncle to jump out, crush his skull, crack his bones, watch them pop out through his flesh, while the thing in his uncle cackled at obscenely at his dying body.
He heard from the street: “She died peacefully looking for the rabbit. But the long eared thing was inside all the time! She was so good to look for the rabbit.”
The rabbit hopped from behind a door. The creature appeared to have freshly, rapidly healing scars, new skin, different colored, lighter fur growing . Shortly, as Justen stared, the rabbit became more relaxed, less strained in breathing. It turned, hopped into his room As it turned, Justen saw in the the scars and new fur something wonderful, an image of his mother’s profile.
The rabbit lived long, Justen always wore the pendant he’d retrieved. He remembered, and helped others to see beauty in life and death.